Modular insulating upholstery for closed chamber

ABSTRACT

Modular insulating upholstery for a closed chamber (7) consisting of panels (1, 2) and prefabricated elements, specially suited to chambers for the transport of goods such as containers. The panels and prefabricated elements form part of an assembly set or kit adaptable to the dimensions of the chamber interior (7) to be insulated and comprise all the necessary upholstering elements. The panels (1) covering the chamber peripheral walls and ceiling consist of a self-supporting sheer insulator in one piece. The prefabricated elements essentially comprise spacing units (6) in the form of small blocks, which are placed between the inner chamber surface and at least the outer panel surfaces, and are made of a material capable of breaking any thermal conduction between the two surfaces.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a modular insulating upholstery forclosed chambers.

The technical sector of the invention is the field of the manufacture ofinsulating material adapted to walls.

One of the main applications of the invention is the production ofupholstery specially designed for heat-insulating the wails of chambersintended for transporting goods such as maritime, road, rail or aircraftwagons or containers.

Indeed, the devices known and produced heretofore are most of the timemade "in situ", inside the chamber of the container or inside the volumeto be insulated, by assembly of various insulating elements, stiffenersor inserts which need to be adjusted on the spot to the insidedimensions of the chamber, this taking a long time and requiring ahighly qualified workmanship. Moreover, once the upholstery has beeninstalled, it is impossible to check whether the elements situated atthe back of the visible inner panels have been correctly fitted.

Yet, all the elements are necessary, to obtain an efficient insulationof the upholstery, and if one is missing or incorrectly mounted, it willnot give the expected performances, and the goods stored in the chamberin question can then be damaged.

Different devices are also known, which devices are adapted for variousother uses, and make it possible to solve this problem of efficiency ofinsulation which is necessary for the use in question, while eliminatingthe need for a complex implementation "in situ": these systems areindeed produced from prefabricated, removable, modular panels, such asthose described in patent application FR 2 660 060 of Mar. 23, 1990 ofthe company SART INDUSTRIE, relating to a "thermal chamber designed towork at high temperature, and constituted of non-jointed and removablemodular panels, each one comprising an external metal plate providedwith a refractory system on its face turned towards the inside of thechamber"; also noted is patent application FR 2 623 172 filed on Nov.16, 1987 by Mr. K. JAN ALAIN for "wine vats composed of insulatingstructural composite panels" delivered in kit form and making itparticularly possible, according to the inventor, to obtain anadvantageous saving on transport and handling costs; in another field ofapplication, there is also noted the patent application EP 90810521filed on Jul. 11, 1989 by the company WELK ELEKTRA INGENIERIECORPORATION LIMITED for a "method and device for producing hollowmodular panels and the panels thus obtained", essentially used for heatinsulation and designed for refrigerator inner liners; finally, there isnoted patent EP 82900926 filed on Mar. 24, 1982 by Bureau d'Etudes et deConstructions Industrialis ees SABECI for a "system of storey-typemetallic industrialized building, with elements finished in theworkshop", comprising sound and heat insulating panellings and variousother modular elements enabling all types of building construction.

It is thus obvious that for every particular application and every typeof insulation, it is necessary to develop upholstering devices and/orinsulating panels corresponding to each one of these applications.

In the field related to closed chambers, such as in particular thoseintended for transporting goods, which is the main object of the presentinvention, no modular elements have been known or used until today,since most of the chambers in question are not of absolutely standarddimensions, and are not initially designed to receive such upholstery.Consequently, the methods and devices used heretofore are implemented"in situ", inside the chamber in question, such as indicatedhereinabove, and from elements in plate form and stiffeners adapted forthe transport of goods, and indeed requiring a good strength andinsulation with respect to the outside chamber which is often in metal.

There can be noted in this field the patent of Etablissements DAHER &Cie filed on Jul. 17, 1986 under No. 2 601 752 and relating to an"insulating panel for inside lining of a volume intended fortransporting goods"in order to attain the aforesaid objects, namelytheir positioning inside a chamber and their resistance with respect tothe goods and their adaptation to the stresses imposed by use, thepanels described in this patent are characterized by the combination ofsupports constituted by spacer-stiffeners, defining between themintercalated gaps, and receiving metal sheets stretched over kraft paperand plated on a strong continuous flat surface, which latter receivesnew spacer-stiffeners applied against a second adjacent rigid surface insynthetic resin with interposed air blades, and forming via a metalsheet also stretched over kraft paper, the inner wall of the volumeprotected by two new stiffeners in contact with the goods.

This does show that such an assembly effected in situ, which requires asuperposition of elements to be adapted to the dimensions of thechamber, takes a long time and requires a qualified staff, without anydefinite guarantee, once the assembly is completed, of the reliabilityof the insulation, due to the fact that once everything has beenmounted, access to the first element deposited against the first surfaceof the inside chamber to be insulated, is impossible.

The problem arising is therefore to be able to insulate differentexisting chambers, and in particular chambers intended for transportinggoods, by using an insulating modular upholstery which can be fitted bynon-specialized staff, very quickly and economically, without any riskof omitting one of the essential elements of the insulation and with thepossibility of adapting itself to various types of chambers in ranges ofstandard dimensions, even approximately of identical values.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One solution to the arising problem is an insulating modular upholsteryfor closed chambers, constituted of prefabricated panels and elements,said prefabricated panels and elements forming part of an assembly set,commonly called "kit" adaptable to the dimensions of the inside of thechamber to be insulated, and comprising all the elements necessary forthe upholstering, said panels covering the peripheral walls and theceiling of the chamber being constituted of a self-supporting monoblocinsulating material in plate form, and said prefabricated elementsessentially comprising spacers in the form of small blocks, placedbetween the internal surface of the chamber and the external surfaces ofsaid panels, and produced in a material capable of breaking any thermalconduction between said two surfaces.

According to a preferred embodiment, said plates constituting the panelare covered over at least one of their faces with a material forming areflecting surface.

Preferably, said plates are symmetrical and reversible with tworeflecting faces.

According to another preferred embodiment, said panels are of standarddimensions and the spacers which are placed between the panels coveringthe ceiling, and said ceiling, are constituted of flexible blocks whichcompensate for the variations of height and which can be slid into placeafter the assembly of said panels.

According to a preferred embodiment, said spacers concerning the lateralperipheral walls are twin-face, self-adhesive patches in supplematerial.

The result is new types of insulating modular upholstery for closedchamber, particularly intended for transporting goods, such as maritime,road, rail or aircraft wagons or containers solving the arising problem,and eliminating the disadvantages noted in the currently usedupholsteries and methods.

Indeed, it enables non-specialized staff to install very quickly andeconomically an insulating upholstery in which any defects can bedetected a posteriori by simple visual examination. Indeed, the methodfor producing an insulting modular upholstery or padding according tothe present invention and comprising the aforementioned characteristicsis such that:

the spacers are fixed on the lateral walls of the chamber to beequipped, in a number at least equal to three for each panel;

said insulating panels covering the lateral peripheral walls are appliedagainst said spacers;

then the ceiling panels are slid above said lateral panels, the lengthof the ceiling panels being equal to the width of the chamber, so thatsaid ceiling panels can be placed astride on the upper ends of saidlateral panels;

then said ceiling panels are stabilized by spacers interposed betweensaid panels and said ceiling;

then the supple insulating sheet and the insulating floor panels arelaid without any fixing means, and said upholstery is completed by anyprefabricated element composing the assembly set and enabling saidinsulation to be completed.

Thus, according to a preferred embodiment comprising all thecharacteristics ensuring maximum insulation from the upholstery, saidlatter is constituted of an assembly set or kit adapted to thedimensions of the container or of the chamber to be equipped comprising,on the one hand, a series of reversible modular insulatingself-supporting panels with two reflecting surfaces, flat joint coversand corner joint covers, rear panels likewise modular, the assemblybeing pre-cut in the factory and, on the other hand, prefabricatedassembly elements or accessories composed of flexible blocks andtwin-face self-adhesive patches.

Thus, said self-supporting plate-shaped monobloc insulating panels nolonger require any stiffeners to ensure their positioning and to holdthem in position: only spacers, keeping them apart from the internalsurface of the chamber to be insulated are sufficient to ensure a breakof conduction between the wall of said chamber and the panel elements;said spacers are thus punctual of the type forming groups of studs orsmall blocks, preferably self-adhesive, in order to ensure quickinstallation thereof, without the need of any particular tools.

Moreover, said insulating panels are preferably coated at least on oneface with one and preferably two film-type reflecting materials so as toensure a symmetry to the panel in such a way that, whatever thedirection in which the member of staff will fix the panel, a goodcontinuity of the reflecting screens and of the tightness brought by thejoint covers, is guaranteed.

Moreover, having optimum standard panels which are adaptable to thelateral and upper walls of the chamber in the case of containers whichare, a priori, of the same range of basic dimensions, and of generallysquare cross-section, but which, from one container to another, candiffer and require at the moment an adapted assembly in situ, saidceiling spacers can then be blocks which compensate for the variationsof dimensions by their suppleness, or any device which adapts to smallvariations of height: which latter can indeed be of several centimeterson the inside.

Thus, by combining all the aforesaid elements and prefabricating them,by eliminating the stiffeners, by the prefabrication and modularity, andthe absence of gluing of the different plate-shaped components, it ispossible to obtain a very quick positioning method which only requires,as this has been tested, only about half an hour for one person in atwenty feet standard container, whereas until now, it was necessary touse two persons for four hours to obtain a result which in spite of allwas not necessarily reliable and was difficult to control visually oncecompleted.

Other advantages of the present invention could be cited, but thosementioned hereinabove are already sufficient to show the novelty andadvantage thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The following description and figures illustrate an of embodiment of theinvention, but they are not in any way restrictive: other embodimentsare possible within the scope and extent of the present invention,particularly by changing the nature and the type of materialconstituting the different elements.

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a closed chamber, particularly ofthe maritime container type which is the example retained in thefollowing description, as being more adapted to the present invention,but other types of chambers can be equipped with the same type ofupholstery.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an insulating self-supporting panelfor lateral walls and ceiling.

FIG. 3 is a partial horizontal section of a maritime type containerequipped with insulating panels such as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical section of a maritime container as shown inFIG. 3, likewise equipped with self-supporting panels such asillustrated in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The insulating modular upholstery according to the invention and such asillustrated in the accompanying figures, for closed chamber, and moreparticularly for transporting containers, is constituted of insulatingpanels 1 for the peripheral lateral walls and the ceiling, of insulatingfloor panels 2, and of complementary prefabricated elements, permittingboth fitting of said panels and a better insulation, such as inparticular the flat joint covers 3 and the corner joint covers 4, anddifferent types of spacers 5, 6, such as defined hereinafter.

Indeed, in the present invention, said panels 1, 2 and the prefabricatedelements form part of an assembly set or "kit" adaptable to thedimensions of the inside of the chamber 7 to be insulated and comprisingall the elements necessary for the upholstering; said panels 1 whichcover the peripheral walls and the ceiling of the chamber, areconstituted of a quadrangular self-supporting monobloc plate ofinsulating material, and said prefabricated elements compriseessentially spacers 5, 6 in the form of punctual blocks, placed betweenthe internal surface of the chamber 7 and the external surfaces of saidpanel 1, and produced in a material capable of breaking any thermalconduction between said two surfaces.

Said plates constituting the panel 1 are covered on at least one oftheir faces with a film-type material or paint producing a reflectingsurface, and preferably, they are symmetrical and reversible with adouble reflecting face.

In order to standardize the manufacture and to simplify the assembly,the insulating panels 1 especially in the case of containers of squarecross-section are of identical length and about the same width as thesides and the ceiling of the chamber 7. They are of standard width, forexample substantially equal to 1.20 m corresponding to a normalmanufacture, hence economical. Their length is slightly less than theheight of the chamber to be equipped.

According to FIG. 2, each panel 1 is formed of a core 8 constituted of aplate of about 10 cm thickness in a semi-rigid cellular material, suchas expanded polystyrene, molded continuously or discontinuously, orformed of a honeycomb style assembly of material such as cardboard,covered on each one of its faces with a reflecting screen 9 which issmooth and preferably shiny, and which can be an aluminum-platedpolyester film applied on grey kraft paper, or a complex of aluminumsheet of 1 μm thickness applied on kraft paper, or even a shiny paint,and in this case, said panels are covered with an intermediate cardboardtype base making it possible to receive said paint.

The panels 1 are self-supporting and preferably symmetrical, this makingit possible to place them in any direction without any problem andwithout the risk of mistaking the direction. Their constitution enablesthem to adapt easily to the differences of inside dimensions ofcontainers, which differences may be quite wide with respect to standardaverage dimensions.

The structure of monobloc panels in self-supporting plate formeliminates the need to use stiffeners for holding the reflecting sheets,the panel and the insulating material as required in the currently usedtechniques. According to the present invention, the essentialrequirement is to have spacers 6 between said panels and the chamber tobe insulated, so as to constitute a break of conduction between the wallwhich is often metallic of the outer chamber, and the reflecting wall ofthe insulating panel.

Concerning the peripheral lateral walls, said spacers 6 are preferablytwin-face self-adhesive patches of supple material, which can be appliedfirstly against the chamber proper up to 3 or 4 per panel for example,and which receive the insulating panels 1, abutting against theiradhesive face at the required distance from the chamber as illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 3.

Concerning the panels 1 covering the ceiling, in order to be able tomake good the differences in dimensions of the inside heights of saidclosed volumes, said spacers 6 are slid in once the ceiling panels havebeen positioned, as illustrated in FIG. 4, and they are placed betweensaid panels 1 and the ceiling: they are constituted of flexible blocks 5which compensate for said variations of dimensions. Thus, the roof orceiling panels, whose length is equal to the width of the container,which width is equal to the height in the most widely used types, arelaid astride on the upper ends and stabilized by means of said flexibleblocks 5, which can be produced in plastic foam adhesively applied oncardboard or other materials enabling them to be slid in while retainingtheir suppleness and their elastic efficiency.

The air tightness of the lateral walls and of the ceiling or roof isthen ensured by covering the joints between the insulating panels 1whose edges are supposed to touch, with self-adhesive strips, which areflat 3 or preformed 4 for the angles and which are packed in rolls inorder to be cut on demand.

Concerning the panels 2 covering the floor of the chamber 7, these arelaid preferably on a sheet 10 of tight and supple material, such as apolyan film of 12 to 200 hundredths of millimeters thickness forexample, applied over the whole surface of the floor, and intended toensure air and water tightness and on which are then preferably laid thepanels 2. These are constituted for example of two sheets of polystyrene11 of about 2 millimeters thickness and having an aluminum typereflecting film adhesively applied on one face and of a plate ofwoodfiber of about 3.2 millimeters thickness: they can have the samewidth as the lateral insulating panels 1 and a length enabling them tobe inserted between the lateral insulating panels while providing attheir end a passage for a slight lifting up of the polyan sheet 10, thesurface of which is then greater than that of the floor which it coversand optionally than that of the polystyrene sheets 11.

Said sheet 10 of supple material which can be not only of polyan butalso in polypropylene of the type used for tarpaulins, thus ensures acontinuous tightness on the periphery by its deformation against thewalls.

The floor panels 2 are constituted preferably of thin layers, such thatthey can remain supple, while supporting heavy loads to ensure thetransport of the goods inside, while ensuring a minimum of insulationwhich may however be of lesser efficiency than the lateral surfaces,since the floor is less exposed to thermal exchanges.

All the elements which are thus pre-dimensioned and necessary to producean insulating upholstery are packed in packages of standard panels and,depending on the case, in packages of panels of non-standard adjustablewidth, so as to be adaptable to different types of dimensions. Thenecessary number of such packages, to which will be added the fittingaccessories, form a complete assembly set or "kit", which is deliveredon a throw-away pallet. Indeed, such a type of upholstery, because ofits standardization and of the relatively low value of the materialconstituting it, can be disposed of after each use and thus considerablysimplify the use of the containers whose destination can be changedwhile being, on demand, either insulating or simply transporters withoutinsulation by instant removal of the upholstery: this can then be thrownaway on the spot of the conversion or changed after use and normal wear.

This is all the easier and possible to produce as the fitting iscompleted in a very short time and requires no specialized staff, thuspermitting very important reductions of the cost price.

The positioning of the different constituting elements give to thedevice according to the invention a maximum of useful effects which hadnot been obtained until now with similar devices.

What is claimed is:
 1. The combination comprising modular insulating means and a closed chamber having peripheral walls, a ceiling and a floor, the closed chamber having standardized dimensions for said walls, ceiling and floor, said modular insulation means comprising a plurality of prefabricated insulating panels which are dimensioned to cover the walls, ceiling and floor of the closed chamber, and a plurality of spacer blocks of substantially smaller size than said panels, said spacer blocks being interposed between said panels and said peripheral walls and ceiling of the closed chamber to maintain said panels in spaced relation from said peripheral walls and said ceiling, said spacer blocks being made of a material which is substantially thermally nonconductive, said panels comprising quadrangular plates which are self-supporting and made of an insulating material, a plurality of said panels being installed in said closed chamber in adjacent, juxtaposed relation to one another opposite said walls and said ceiling, the panels having dimensions to enable a number of the panels to be individually and separately mounted on any of the walls, ceiling and floor of the closed chamber to collectively cover the walls, ceiling and floor such that a modular assembly of the panels on the walls, ceiling and floor of the closed chamber can be carried out, in situ, within the closed chamber.
 2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plates constituting the panels have at least one face covered with a material producing a reflecting surface.
 3. The combination as claimed in claim 2, wherein said plates are symmetrical and reversible with double reflecting faces.
 4. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said panels are of standardized dimensions and the spacer blocks between the ceiling and the panels covering said ceiling, are constituted of flexible material which compensate for variations in height inside the closed chamber and can be slid into place after assembly of said panels on said walls and said ceiling.
 5. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said chamber has a floor which is covered by a number of said panels with an intervening sheet of supple and tight material.
 6. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spacer blocks between the peripheral walls and said panels have twin-face self-adhesive patches of supple material.
 7. The combination as claimed in claim 1, further comprising joint-covering flat adhesive strips for covering joints between adjacent side by side panels and pre-formed adhesive strips for covering angle joints between adjacent panels at an angle to one another.
 8. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insulating panels each comprises a core of a semi-rigid cellular material, or expanded polystyrene or honeycomb cardboard and thin, outer covers on opposite faces of said core.
 9. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said chamber has a height and width which are substantially equal, said insulating panels being of identical length slightly less than the height of the chamber.
 10. A method of insulating a closed chamber having peripheral walls, a ceiling and a floor, the closed chamber having standardized dimensions for said walls, ceiling and floor, said method comprising:attaching a plurality of spacer blocks to the peripheral walls of the closed chamber, securing insulating panels to said spacer blocks opposite said peripheral walls of the closed chamber to cover said peripheral walls, each of said panels being formed by prefabricating a self-supporting monoblock plate of thermally insulative material to the dimensions of said closed chamber, each panel being secured to the respective said wall by at least three of said spacer blocks, sliding a plurality of further of said panels at the ceiling of the closed chamber so that said further panels rest on upper edges of the panels covering opposite peripheral walls of said chamber and cover the ceiling of the chamber, inserting spacer blocks between the ceiling of the chamber and said further panels which cover the ceiling of the chamber to stabilize said further panels, applying a supple insulating sheet on the floor of the chamber, and applying still further of said panels on said insulating sheet to cover the floor of said chamber.
 11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said still further of said panels are applied on said insulating sheet without affixation.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein adjacent ones of said panels covering said peripheral walls of the chamber have adjoining edges forming joints, said method further comprising covering said joints with cover strips.
 13. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein adjacent ones of said panels covering the ceiling, peripheral walls and floor of said chamber adjoin one another at right angles forming right-angle corner joints, said method further comprising covering said right-angle corner joints with prefabricated right-angle cover strips. 